discussion and abstract

As this is a dual assignment, turn in one document. The Discussion should come first, and then on a separate page, have the Abstract.

The Discussion Section

The Discussion section is meant to interpret the results and discuss the implications of the study. Since you all are simply proposing a research study, you will not have actual results to discuss. Instead, you will interpret and discuss all of the potential outcomes of your study and each of their implications. There following are key aspects of a discussion section that you are to include:

Restate your hypotheses

Discuss all of the potential outcomes of the study

Relate potential outcomes to previous literature

Discuss the potential implication of each potential outcomes

Discuss the potential limitations of your study

Discuss future directions for research

When writing your Discussion section, be mindful of APA guidelines and style rules. Discussion should be in bold print and centered at the top of the page. If you cite literature, be sure to use proper in-text citations and include a reference page at the end.

The Abstract

The purpose of the abstract is to give a brief overview of all aspects of your study (i.e. the introduction, methodology, results, and implications). It is meant to be concise and straightforward, so that readers can get an understanding of your paper and its relevancy without having to read the entire thing. Sticking to APA guidelines and style rules, the abstract should be no more than 250 words. “Abstract” is centered on the page and in bold print. The text of the abstract is one big paragraph, but the first line is not indented (see the Research Lab Manual on Blackboard for an example).

The following should be included in the Abstract:

Information about the topic of the paper

A statement of the research question

Why the topic/research question is important

Information about the participants

The research hypothesis(es)

The methods used (in extremely brief form)

A statement about the conclusions and/or the implications

Rubric